


steve's death

by kippenlakes



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers Feels, kms, writtn before endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 05:19:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18910372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kippenlakes/pseuds/kippenlakes
Summary: written before endgame, but title is pretty self-explanatory





	steve's death

Bucky cradled his body, tear forming in his eyes, regret filling his every being. He had cuts all over his body, blood dripping down the side of his head. Exhaustion consumed him with every minute that passed. He had been thrown, beat up, stabbed, shot. But nothing could compare to the wounds Steve had at the moment. 

A giant stab wound was on his chest, formed by the very spear he caught at the train station those years ago. The wound overfilled with blood, flowing over the rest of his body. His face was cut, his left eye barely open, purple and swollen. Blood dripped from his lips, every drop of blood bringing Steve closer to death.

“C’mon, punk. Don’t you dare die on me,” Bucky whispered, afraid to bring his voice any higher.

“Buck… ,” Steve said, giving Bucky a faint smile. 

Bucky wondered how Steve could be smiling at a time like this. But nonetheless, seeing the smile of the kid from Brooklyn, brought him comfort. Even if it would be the last time he’d be able to see it.

“I’m sorry, Buck,” Steve choked out, coughing up blood.

“For what, Stevie?” Bucky whispered, unable to say anything else.

“I love you… I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner. So much time wasted…”

“‘Til the end of the line, right, Stevie? Stay with me, we can get outta this. We can still have time.” 

Bucky was desperate. Here he was, looking at the man he had loved since they were kids in Brooklyn. The man he had loved since the days he would find him in alleyways getting his ass kicked. The boy he would invite on double dates, thinking one day they wouldn’t have to hide; that they would get a chance to not live in fear.

They would never get the chance to do so.

“It’s the end of the line, Buck,” Steve smiled sadly, tears streaming down his face onto the ashen ground plagued by fallen armies. Steve knew that soon, he would only be another lifeless body on the battlefield. His death would be all over the news, there’d probably be an open casket viewing. Steve almost laughed at the thought; the entire world mourning the star spangled man with a plan. No one grieving for the kid from Brooklyn. But what Steve knew was while the rest of the world would be grieving for Captain America, James Buchanan Barnes would be grieving for Steve Rogers.

“God Dammit, punk,” Bucky cried, he was close to breaking point.

“Jerk,” Steve chuckled softly. 

Steve gulped as he grabbed Bucky’s arm while Bucky held Steve tighter, as if that would somehow stop him from slipping. When Steve’s body went limp, his arm dropped to the floor, and he breathed his last breath, Bucky was shockingly silent. Tears fell from his eyes, his breathing was shallow, but no amount of release would be enough to make him feel less pain. 

He looked down at Steve’s body in his arms. He didn’t look like Captain America to him, he never did. All Bucky ever saw was Steve Rogers. 

Bucky slowly got up, laying Steve Rogers on the ground as he blinked back tears. He kneeled next to him, cradling his jaw. “I love you, Stevie.”

As he stood up, the rest of the Avengers arrived. He walked backwards, bumping into Natasha, who pulled him close to her. Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she kept her face as neutral as possible. The other Avengers remained as if time were still, forced to gaze upon a sight they wished not to see. Regret filled their veins as sadness overtook every bone in their body.

“They’ll want his body,” Bucky whispered.

“They’ll want us to make a public appearance,” Tony agreed, no will left in his voice.

“They’ll want to televise his funeral,” Natasha said.

“The death of Captain America, I can see it now,” Carol said, her voice full of spite.

“They’re never going to let him rest, will they? Not truly,” Bruce asked.

Thor looked down, wiping away tears, hoping no one would see. Clint put his hand on Thor’s back, both of them feeling the smallest bit of comfort between comrades.

\-----

Hours later, everyone was back at the Avengers compound. Everything was quiet as they shuffled around the Steve’s room, gathering pillows and blankets and mattresses. They all sat together on the mattresses they placed on the floor; leaning on one another. Each of them just trying to find some sort of relief from their teammate, from their family. 

The night passed on silently, news of Cap’s death spreading through the nation like wildfire. There would be a press conference tomorrow morning followed by a televised funeral in Brooklyn. 

When the time would come, his grave would read Captain America. People would stop by his grave every day leaving flowers. On the rare occasion the Avengers would be able to go to Steve’s grave without cameras following their every move, they would catch him up on the latest prank war between Clint and a kid named Peter Parker. Tony would tell him about how he and Bruce blew something up in the lab yet again and how Shuri would make fun of them. Natasha would joke about how much cooler Carol is and Bucky would agree exclaiming that she can “move planets and fly” while the only thing Steve ever did was “dive into the jaws of death.” Every once in a while, each of them would come on their own. Those days would usually be bad days. As time passed on, they would slowly learn to move on with their lives; retire, settle down, and leave the world to be saved by a new generation.

\-----

Steve woke up breathing heavily on the street of Brooklyn. Theater lights reflected in puddles, shouting to the world there was a CasaBlanca showing at 8:30pm. He looked around, lost until he noticed a lit up sign for the Stork Club. 

As he entered the club, soft music played in the background. He recognized the song as Till the End of Time by Perry Como. The entire room was empty except for Peggy Carter in a red dress standing in the middle of the dance floor.

“Peggy?” She turned around to face him, a small smile lighting up her face.

“You’re late,” she said simply.

“I know, I’m sorry. I ran into a bit of trouble,” he said as he walked to her.

“Excuses, excuses, Steve,” Peggy rolled her eyes playfully. Her and Steve started dancing along to the song playing.

“I died, Peg. I think that’s a darn good excuse,” Steve laughed.

Peggy shook her head and smiled. “Did you tell Barnes?”

“I did,” Steve twirled Peggy.

Peggy’s face lit up, the happiness behind Steve’s eyes matching her smile. 

“Took you long enough.”

Steve let out a laugh. “Seventy years pass and it makes you think. Anyways, I hear you got married. I didn’t even get an invite, Pegs.”

“You couldn’t be reached! I promised I tried!”

Steve chuckled. “I know you did. I wish I was there. I’m sure it was a beautiful wedding.”

“It was. I wish you and your dastardly dancing were there. You’re much better now.”

“Sam taught me to dance. Said I couldn’t live in the twenty first century without being able to dance. My gosh, Peggy, he showed me these horrible videos. Kids do something called, I don’t even know the name. Then he signed me up for classes.”

Peggy laughed. “I like this Sam already.”

Peggy and Steve walked to sit at the bar when the song ended. Peggy reached behind the bar getting two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. 

“You miss him?” Peggy asked sadly.

“Yeah… probably too much.”

“No such thing as missing someone too much. You’ll see him again. But in the meantime,” Peggy gulped down the rest of her whiskey, “want to go for a walk?”

“Where are we going?” Steve asked, standing up. 

“Figure it’s time you meet my husband. The name’s Daniel Sousa. If you’re lucky, Dottie and Erskine will be there, too.”

“Oh gosh, do I look okay? Is my hair alright? Are my clothes decent? I gotta make a good first impression, Pegs. And if I’m seeing Erskine again, I can’t look-”

“-like you just died? You look handsome as always, you buffoon. Now come on,” Peggy laughed as she linked arms with Steve.

“Should you really be calling me handsome, Pegs? You have a husband for god sakes!” Steve exclaimed.

Peggy slapped his arm playfully and they walked out of the Stork Club. The door closed behind them, the lights turned off, and the streetlights cast down on them as they walked down the street, talking quietly to themselves, walking home.


End file.
